TEAMWORK SAVES WORKER'S LIFE.

Byline: Amy Raisin Staff Writer

CANYON COUNTRY - People often bemoan strip malls as drab and too plentiful, but the mishmash of businesses squeezed together on one local corner likely helped save a man's life last week.

When an employee at Discount Tire Centers on Soledad Canyon Road collapsed and stopped breathing last week, a co-worker rushed next door and summoned the staff from Canyon Country Pediatrics.

``It wasn't looking good at all,'' said store owner Andy Kopalian. ``It's a good thing they were right there. They had all the equipment, and they were here in seconds.''

Pediatrician and self-described perfectionist Rochelle Feldman said last Thursday morning didn't begin well, but the life-or-death emergency that followed smoothed any wrinkles.

``I was in a crummy mood, and I was on my staff about everything,'' Feldman said. ``After (the emergency) was over, I said, not another word out of me. You guys have totally redeemed yourselves. I'm really proud of my staff that they could do something that incredible.''

Seconds after a tire shop employee summoned the doctor, Feldman and her staff were next door with an oxygen tank, a suction device and other medical equipment.

``When we got there, he was just laying flat on the ground, not breathing. And he was completely blue, purplish blue,'' said Renee Dionne, who works in Feldman's front office. ``His heart rate was about 50.''

Co-workers of the victim, a father of two in his early 50s, thought he'd had a heart attack or stroke. They had been relaxing after a rush of business when the man, who was eating an orange, collapsed. Co-workers asked that the victim not be identified.

``We were joking around, talking,'' Kopalian said. ``Then he wasn't answering. His eyes were glazed and he started to sway. When I grabbed him, his left arm locked around mine. That's when I thought he might be having a seizure.''

Kopalian and his employees watched as Feldman dislodged a slice of orange from the man's throat and gave him oxygen. While it was only minutes until the ambulance arrived, those few tense moments seemed to drag on.

``He was on his way down, definitely,'' Feldman said Monday. ``I gave him a good thump on his chest and then a modified Heimlich maneuver. Once he started (coughing and breathing), his heart rate started going up.

``I was at the helm, but without (my staff) I would have been lost. They ran a perfect resuscitation,'' she said. ``They ran it like you would want it in an intensive care unit.''

Kopalian said the employee is out of the hospital and under the care of doctors.

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Photo:

(color) Dr. Rochelle Feldman, front left, and her staff - from left, Tonja Aldrich, Renee Dionne, Patricia Harden, Terra Lahn and Christina Robinson - saved a man's life at the shop next door.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer